Wood County businesses benefit from SBA lending

The Small Business Administration has announced that Wood County businesses were among those who received part of the $1 billion lent in the DFW district’s areas.

Austin Raymond Construction of Yantis and Garrison Rehabilitation of Winnsboro were the recipients of the loans.

According to Ahmed Goree, public information officer with the SBA, no loans were made to Wood County business in the previous two years. Goree said the fact that the two businesses received loans this year is “pretty significant.”

The Yantis construction company received one loan for $100,000 and the Winnsboro business received two for a total of $1,227,500.

The loans are low-interest, government guaranteed loans through Comerica and JP Morgan Chase. They can be made to new or existing businesses. The DFW district includes 72 counties and Wood is one of those.

“I think it tells a lot about the future of small businesses because it is actually growing,” Goree said. “The DFW district’s FY 17 loans help create 9,759 jobs in industries such as retail, hotels and motels, restaurants and construction. Additionally, these loans funded 316 franchise businesses and 888 new businesses.”

Overall, the district director of the DFW SBA District Office, Herbert Austin said, “This is another major milestone in the DFW district. The top five lenders in the district were Wells Fargo Bank National Association, Live Oak Banking Company, Compass Bank, JP Morgan Chase Bank National Association and Vertiex Community Bank.

Among the SBA’s 68 district offices nationally, the DFW district ranks number five in dollar value of loans, after Los Angeles, Georgia, South Florida and Santa Ana. SBA’s flagship loan, called the 7A Loan Program, provides small businesses with comprehensive financial assistance covering the majority of small business needs including working capital, fixed and intangible asset financing, as well as refinance and export support through term and revolving loans.